Match in Focus: Gotham get the upperhand on Portland

Despite the hosts seeing more of the ball and creating plenty of chances, defending NWSL champions Gotham FC took three points away from Providence Park...

Esther got Gotham’s season off to a winning start. Image: Gotham FC

Defending the NWSL Championship is never easy, so much so only two sides have managed it, with North Carolina Courage the last in 2019.

For it to happen again, all eyes fall on Gotham FC, who went from bottom to top in the space of 12 months to beat OL Reign in last year’s final.

After a winter of change which saw head coach Juan Carlos Amorós bring in four established USA internationals and opening their campaign with the one-off NWSL Challenge Cup which saw them lose late on to San Diego Wave, the last thing they probably wanted to see in their schedule was an opening regular season game away at Portland Thorns at Providence Park.

One of the most intimidating stages in the women’s game, the Thorns had also never lost a home opener heading into the game, while the visitors hadn’t won in Portland since 2017, yet it provided a mouth-watering clash between two of the most stacked squads in a league ever-improving in quality and depth.

While it was not vintage Gotham FC by any means, the instinctive talents of Esther González snatched the points for the visitors late on, despite the Thorns being on top from an attacking sense for much of the encounter.

Sophia Smith, unsurprisingly, was a constant thorn in the side of Gotham and saw two goals disallowed, the second of which was a superb effort, while Amoros had one of his more under-the-radar signings in goalkeeper Cassie Miller to thank for helping to maintain a huge three points on the road.

It’s clear the new-look Gotham FC will take some time to evolve, and this was without Rose Lavelle, Lynn Williams and Maitane López, while Mike Norris’s side looked a lot more settled than last week’s defensively-lacking performance against Kansas City Current and will win plenty of games they way they played on Sunday, yet already languish on zero points after two games.

For Gotham, it’s a dangerous statement of intent. They weren’t at their best, yet still came away from one of the toughest tests they’ll have all season with three points.

Here’s five key takeaways from the match in WFC’s view…